Comeback
by Shimmercloud
Summary: Blargh. I actually have no idea. I'll update this summary as I go. KirixNaru and BillyxOC. And other stuff.
1. Chapter 1

"Ahh…where are we going?" Nine friends clambered through the streets, lead by a short boy holding a bag of shrimp chips. He skipped ahead of the others, laughing and munching his snack at the same time.

"To the market!" he sang. "Where there'll be tons of yummy snacks!"

"That's right," said another boy, pushing his glasses up his nose. "There's a big street market thing going on, and I'll bet we can find some good bargains."

"And food booths!" the short boy shouted happily.

"Calm down, Kei!" snapped another boy. "You'll attract attention!" Kei laughed, jumping and punching the air.  
"Food, Naru-Naru, how can I come down?"

"Haven't you learned anything from all the years you've known him, Narumi?" teased the glasses boy.

"Shut up Kazuhiko!" Narumi snapped. "I just don't want to draw a crowd or anything."

"Ahh, stop squabbling, Narusy! **You** is hurting **me**'s ears!"

"And _your_ terrible Japanese is hurting Chisami's ears!" shrieked a curly haired girl. As they argued on, two girls lagged behind, already exhausted from the noise.

"Kiri-chan, are they ever quiet?" asked the girl with dark hair. The other girl yawned.

"I don't know, Kanako," she replied quietly. "But I don't think so."

"I think I get why it's so loud," interrupted a boy with short hair. "Kei is naturally enthusiastic when there's food involved, Ochiai-sempai never pays any attention but provokes more arguing, and of course Iori-san and Chisami-chan never stop fighting when they're in earshot of each other. And Narumi-sempai hates loud noises but he only makes everything louder with all his yelling trying to make it stop." He raised his head proudly.

"Genius, Taro-tard," murmured Kiri. She slouched over with her eyes to the ground. _Why did I agree to come with them today…_ Ochiai had called her to tell her that they were taking an SP day out and that she should come. Kiri had been hesitant but decided to tag along after Ochiai had pretty much begged her. With a deep sigh, Kiri stared up at the sky. It had been a while since she had moved back to Japan to man the Koshiba beauty salon. The SP had welcomed her back, and they did a few shows at the school. The whole student body was crazy about it of course.

The SP was a group of students at the school, specifically Kiri and her friends. They did makeovers for girls selected from their school. Kiri didn't particularly enjoy giving the showy makeovers, so she usually sat back and watched Narumi do all the work. His arm had recovered so much while Kiri was in LA, and she couldn't help feeling proud of him. Kiri lifted her head to watch Narumi scream at Kei, an amused smile on her face. Falling behind, she saw Taro bothering Ochiai with questions, Chisami and Iori shouting vividly at each other, Kanako making an attempt to talk to Seki, who was apologizing profusely for a reason that he probably didn't even know. Despite all the antics, Kiri knew the SP was an undefeatable team, and that they could do anything when they worked together.

"Ah, we're here!" Kei shouted. The rest of the SP turned to look. In front of them was the biggest street market Kiri had ever seen. The nine friends barged in, instantly dispersing. Kiri ran up to a booth selling a variety of dried fish. She picked out a couple of bags for Shampoo and handed a couple of coins to the salesperson. Bowing her head, she stumbled absently down the aisle, searching for more food.

Two hours later, the members of the SP met at a park beside the bustling market. Each holding bags of merchandise, they exchanged stories of their bargaining experience. Then Ochiai spoke up.

"Look at this," he announced, holding a flyer. "A new salon opened up downtown called the Style Shoppe." Everyone bent in to look. "Apparently it's a branch off of a salon run by the same people in New York."

"New York?" Iori piped up. "**Me**'s New York?"

"That's right," Ochiai continued. "It's run by some Japanese-American students. They're not professionals or anything. Kind of like us. But a couple of them rented a place in Japan and they're starting a new branch here."

"Students?" Narumi ran his hand through his hair. "That's interesting. We should check it out sometime."

"**Me**'s heard of the Style Shoppe!" Iori exclaimed. "There was an event at **me**'s school and all the girls went there to get their hair done! The line went all the way to **me**'s house! Of course, **me** was there to soothe them with **me**'s aromas!" Narumi shuddered at the thought of having to deal with Iori's aromas while waiting in a line full of crazy school girls.

"Nevertheless, we should go see this Style Shoppe," Ochiai intercepted. "If these students are any good, the SP could have an advantage with associating with them. But," he added, "that will be discussed later. Right now we should go home. I think some of us are tired." He glanced at Kiri, who was looking nonchalantly at her watch. As the group started home, a call came from behind them.

"Iori-san!" The SP turned around to see a girl with pin straight dark hair running towards them. She was wearing a dark blue beanie beret and holding a sketchbook. "Sammie!" Iori cried. He ran over to meet her. "**Me** is so happy that **me**'s Sammie is in Japan!" The girl laughed. "It's good to see you too." Narumi twitched. _How can she be so friendly around him? _After a few moments of laughing and chatting in English, the girl turned looked past Iori to see the rest of them. Her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness!" she squealed. "It's the SP! I'm such a big fan! Look!" She flipped open her sketchbook. "After that amazing beauty competition, I just had to draw a freeze frame!" There was a sketch of the SP, along with Kanako as the model. Narumi winced as he remembered the competition. It wasn't exactly his definition of fun, but in the end it was all worth it.

"Oh sorry!" the girl laughed. "I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Yagami Samiya, but you can call me Sammie, and I'm from New York!" She bowed her head, her dark hair sweeping over.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ochiai replied. "I would introduce the rest of us, but you probably know who we all are already." Sammie flipped back her hair with her hands and beamed a smile.

"Of course!" she said cheerfully. "It's Ochiai-sempai, Narumi-sempai, Kei-kun, Seki-san, and of course, Kiri-san!" Kiri blinked. This girl was so good-natured, even around the crazy SP.

"Yagami-san, are you part of the Style Shoppe, the new salon?" Ochiai asked. Sammie shook her head.

"I'm not part of them," she replied. "But my sister Karen organized the whole thing, so I live upstairs from the salon with her."

"I see…" _She must not be very good with hair if she's not working with the Style Shoppe,_ he thought. Sammie glanced down at her watch.

"I'm so sorry! I have to run, Nee-chan wants something." She slipped her sketchbook into her messenger bag and ran in the other direction. "It was great meeting you all!" she called over her shoulder with a wave. The SP waved back.

"Well," Narumi began. "I have never seen anyone so unconditionally cheerful." The rest of the SP agreed, murmuring amongst themselves.

"She's so nice, Ki-chan," exclaimed Kanako. "Even to Iori-san!"

"You're right," Kiri replied. "I didn't even think that was possible." The nine friends headed home, pushing the thoughts out of their heads.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day…

"Hey! Puffy Head!" Kiri turned around to see Narumi running towards her, with Kei and Ochiai following behind. Kei was eating, as usual, and Narumi look grumpy, as usual. Kiri sighed. _Here we go again…_

"What is it, Naru-Naru?" she asked, slightly irritated. The SP boys were always stalking her. Narumi ran his hand through his hair. _He's been doing that a ton lately…I wonder why? _

"I want to show you a new cutting technique I've been trying out," he explained. He reached into his bag and felt around a bit. "Oh darn, I left the sketch in the clubroom!" He stomped his foot and started grumbling, but Kiri noticed that it looked a bit strained. "Hey, Kazuhiko, can you go get it for me?"

"I'll get it for you, Naru Naru!" cheered Kei. Narumi glared at him

"I don't trust you looking through my stuff, Kei," he snapped. "You'll probably spill your juice on it or something! Kazuhiko, can't you go with him?" Ochiai blinked.

"All right," he replied. "Let's go, Kei." Kei skipped off towards the school, with Ochiai running behind him. Kiri watched them leave. _Weirdos…_

Before she knew what was going on, Narumi had grabbed her wrist and dragged her away.

Moments later, the two stood behind a large building. "Naru-Naru, what's going on?" Narumi ran his hand through his hair. _Again_. He seemed to be at a loss of words. Kiri sighed.

"You got rid of Ochiai-sempai and Kei and then dragged me here. I get it, you don't have to explain. Just tell me what you want."

"I'm sorry!" Narumi blurted. "It's just that…ever since you got back from LA, Kazuhiko's been breathing down my back and Kei is never far behind. I feel like they've been sticking closer to me than usual, and I think I know why. But it's not them I wanted to talk to you about."

"Talk to me…Naru-Naru, why did you bring me behind some sketchy building to talk?"

"That's not the point!" Narumi ducked his head, angry and embarrassed at the same time. "Ever since you got back from LA, I feel like you've forgotten everything that happened before you moved. Everything you've been through, everything I've been through, and everything I've…said." Slamming his hand to his forehead, Narumi shut his mouth and stared at the ground. _There, I said it. Now I can kill myself. _After a few moments of silence, Kiri finally spoke up.

"I forget about a lot of things," _Tell me about it… _"But…I don't think I'll ever forget you, Naru-Naru." Narumi continued to stare at the ground. _What is she trying to say?_

"I don't want Naru-Naru to change," Kiri continued. "I know this isn't the same Naru-Naru that I met back when the SP was in its early days, and I know you're not the Naru-Naru that got angry at everything, was mean to everyone, and never listened, but the way you are now…well…" She lifted her head. "I like it." And a moment later, she was gone.

Narumi leaned against the side of the building. _Stupid idiot…_ Running his hand through his hair again, he shut his eyes and sighed. _I like the way you are too._

_Later…_

"Another SP day out?" Kiri groaned, flopping down on the bench. The rest of the SP was standing around. "Where are we going this time?"

"I was thinking back to that time in Karuizawa when the SP did makeovers for random girls on the streets," Ochiai explained. "So I thought we could do that around here. It'd gain us a ton of publicity for those who haven't heard about us yet." Kiri perked up a bit on the inside. _We should split up then,_ she thought.

"Hi everyone!" a cheerful voice called from behind them. Kiri turned to see Sammie running towards them. "Sammie!" Iori cried happily. "**You** is here!"

"Greetings, Yagami-San." Ochiai dipped his head.

"Yeah! Sae-chan is here!" cheered Kei. "Did you bring any snacks?" Laughing, Sammie handed Kei a bag of candy.

"I hope you don't mind if I tag alone with you today. I'd love to see the SP in action!"

"Sure," said Ochiai. "No problem at all. Maybe you can learn a few things." _Is he being mean to Sammie-chan? _

Suddenly a gasp came from Iori. "Kanary! What happened to **you**'s hair?" Kanako was stumbling towards them, a flustered look on her face. Her dark hair fell in front of her face, and Kiri could see that it was terribly frizzy and sticking out everywhere.

Choking a sob, Kanako ran over to Kiri. "Ki-chan, what do I do?" she cried. "I just woke up and it looked like this! I can't come with you guys looking like this! You have to do something!" Kiri shook her head.

"Sorry Kanako," she murmured. "My scissors can't fix frizzy hair. It's just natural sometimes." Kanako burst into tears.

"What am I going to do?" she sobbed. The rest of the SP watched in silence; nobody knew what to do. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grasped Kanako's hair.

"Wow, you have such nice hair, Aoyama-san!" Sammie ran her fingers through Kanako's dark locks. "It's such a shame it's so frizzy. But," Sammie reached into her bag and pulled something out. "a little power goes a long way…"

"What is that?" Taro whispered to Kiri.

"It looks like a hair iron of some sort," Kiri muttered. Everyone stared as Sammie ran the iron through Kanako's hair. Soon enough, the frizz was gone and Kanako's hair was back to its smooth, silky state.

"Thank you so much, Sammie-san!" Kanako gasped, feeling her hair in awe.

"Oh, it's nothing," Sammie replied, embarrassed. "Frizziness is a pain, but it's easy to get rid of it."

"Interesting," murmured Ochiai. "I've never seen a straightener work so fast and efficient. What was that device you were using?" Kiri noticed that Sammie tightened her grip on her bag.

"A straightener," she replied, shooting him a strange look. Her usual cheeriness had cooled for a split second when Ochiai had asked her that. _What's her deal?_ _She doesn't seem to like talking about her straightener…or whatever it is._

"It's cordless isn't it?" Ochiai pondered. "What a great deal of power! It turns on and off so quickly."

"Are we leaving or what?" Sammie tilted her head. She seemed eager to divert the conversation topic from her straightener. The SP gang set off, eager to start makeovers on the streets. Kiri glanced at Sammie, who was chatting happily with Kanako. _How strange…what's so special about that device of hers?_

…..

Sammie opened her bag and quietly slipped her hair iron into her drawer. Taking out her sketchbook, she began to carefully draw a new combination. Frame…complexion…hair colour…length. Matching everything carefully, Sammie sketched out a new set of curls. _Perfect…now how many more to go?_ As she quickly flipped through the sketchbook, the door opened quietly behind her. Sammie stiffened but didn't move. "Mi-chan," a voice murmured behind her. Sammie's chest tightened. _Just ignore it_, she told herself. _He leaves after a while. _An arm reached over her shoulder and pointed at her new sketch.

"This style," the voice said. "It fits." The arm retreated, but Sammie could still feel him lingering behind her. "Perfectly." _That's the point, idiot._ She heard him sigh.

"When are you going to let me style your lovely hair?" _Never. _And then it happened. He reached out beside her and grasped the handle of her drawer. Sammie slammed down her pencil and jumped on him. Shoving his shoulder roughly, she knocked him over. The boy lay in a crumbled up heap on the floor with Sammie standing over him angrily. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Don't you ever," Sammie snapped, "try something like that again." She narrowed her dark eyes. "_Iketani_."


	3. Chapter 3

Shrieks of excitement from the crowd of girls echoed around. Kiri watched as Narumi gave the girl her haircut. He walked around her, examining her hair carefully. The girl sat in the chair, almost shaking with excitement. Kiri smiled. _Naru-Naru will give her a good cut… _She glanced over at Sammie, who was sitting at the side, drawing rapidly in her sketchbook. Kiri walked over to her. "Sa-chan," she greeted. Sammie looked up.

"Oh, hi Kiri-chan!" she replied cheerfully.

"What are you drawing?" Kiri peered at her sketchbook. Sammie held it up to show her.

"I'm trying to guess what kind of cut Narumi-sempai is going to give that girl. Narumi is really good at making the hairstyle fit every unique person, so I thought I'd try it out." As Kiri watched, she realized that Sammie was drawing the girl's face. _Every unique person…_ Sammie was getting her frame just right, and she drew a rough sketch of the positioning of her facial features. Then, whipping out some coloured pencil, she went over the picture multiple times until she got her complexion. "Alright," she murmured. "Let's begin." She reached into her bag and pulled out a black pencil. It was sharpened perfectly and Kiri could see lots of smudges on the edge. She began to sketch again, and Kiri could start to see where she was going. _She knows what hair will fit best for this girl…that's why she thinks Naru-Naru will cut it that way._ Kiri smiled, slightly amused. _Naru-Naru is too predictable. _Sammie finished the hairstyle quickly and let out a sigh. Kiri watched Narumi cut, his scissors rapidly coursing through the girl's hair. Sure enough, the style the girl ended up with was almost identical to the one Sammie had drawn. _If only I could draw like that…_ "Sa-chan, what else do you draw in your sketchbook?"

"Well…" Sammie flipped through the pages. "I tabbed the pages so it would be easy to find my drawings." Kiri saw sections of the sketchbook labeled Sketches, Hairstyles, and Designs, along with a section at the back labeled "Style Guide". Kiri pointed at the last section. "What's that?"

"It's just something I've been working on for a while," explained Sammie, flipping to the section. "I'm trying to use different combinations of frame, complexion, hair colour, and facial features to determine the perfect hairstyle." Kiri saw multiple hairstyles made from all the different combinations. "This way it'll be easy for hairstylists to figure out which style they should cut for each model." Kiri nodded, intrigued. _Sa-chan thinks just like a hairstylist…_ "Do you enjoy cutting hair, Sa-chan?" Sammie shook her head.

"I don't like the feel of the scissors in my hand," she replied. "Nee-chan taught me how to cut when I was little, but I was always afraid that I would mess up. I didn't have any confidence with the scissors. I guess they're just not for everyone. I just like to draw and…" Sammie blinked. "And…watch Nee-chan and the other hairstylists cut…" she finished quickly. Kiri diverted her gaze back to Narumi. _She's keeping something from us…but not purpose. She just looks frightened. _

"Hey, Puffy Head!" Narumi yelled. "Can you take over for me? My arm is tired!" Kiri stared at him, not wanting to get up. Narumi glared at her, but Kiri could see the softness in his eyes. With a deep sigh she stumbled over to where the girls were crowded. Narumi didn't look at her as she passed, but Kiri could tell he was happy. She slipped out her golden scissors from inside her coat and got to work.

Many girls went home happy that day, and Ochiai was satisfied. Kiri slumped home, exhausted. _Too many haircuts…_

_The next day…_

Kiri stood at the side of the road, looking at a map. _Hmm…I think this is it…_ She saw on the building some English words she couldn't read. _Whatever, I'm pretty sure this is it. _A bell jingled as she opened the door. A girl with long hair ran up to her. "Hello, and welcome to the Style Shoppe! Can I help you?"

"Ahh…I was actually here just to look around. I heard a new salon had opened up down here and I wanted to check it out."

"Oh course!" she replied. "Go ahead. I'll get Karen-san. She can show you around!" Before Kiri could say anything, she had run off. With a sigh, Kiri stepped in.

"Sorry about that," a voice said from behind her. Kiri turned around to see another girl standing there. She was holding a pair of scissors and smiling sheepishly. "That was Janie-san. She's always so eager to welcome everyone." She laughed and placed her scissors on the counter. "A little too eager maybe." Dipping her head at Kiri, she introduced herself. "I'm Sarah, by the way. You've already met Janie-san." She gestured to the door that the long haired girl had just run out of. "The girl with the short hair is Mitchie-san." She pointed at a girl reading a magazine. "And that one over there…" Kiri glanced over at a smaller girl practicing on a mannequin head. "That's Erie-san. She's a newer hairstylist, so she's a bit nervous about working here." Janie ran back into the room with another girl behind her. "Ah, there's Karen-san. Why don't you go talk to her?" Kiri walked up to her. Karen raised her head, smiling and Kiri.

"Ah, Koshiba-san, right? The SP girl?" Kiri nodded. "It's such an honour to have you here. I'm sure you're not here for a haircut, right?"

"I was actually wondering if Sammie-chan was here," Kiri replied. "But I thought that while I was here, I could check out your salon. It's very nice, by the way," she said, bowing. Karen waved her off. "It's nothing. We've only got a few stylists right now, but a couple from New York and still thinking about moving here. We could really use some more help. Oh, and if you want to see Sammie, she's upstairs," Karen continued, pointing at a door in the back. Kiri thanked her and headed up. She spotted a door on the right with a sign that said "Sammie" hanging on it. "Hmm…this must be it," Kiri murmured, raising her hand to knock.

…

"Mi-chan, why won't you let me cut your hair?" Sammie clenched her fists but kept sketching.

"I don't want you touching my hair." Trying to block him out, she concentrated on the magazine picture. _Hmm…the thick curls would look great with her long hair, but if it gets cut short, a crimp would look amazing… _She picked up the iron, flicking her wrist and imagining the look of the crimped hair.

"Can I try your iron, Mi-chan?" _Not in a million years._ "Is that a yes?" Sammie pursed her lip.

"No!" she snapped. "Just shut up, okay?" She pointed to a chair. "Sit there." He obliged. Sammie reached into her drawer and pulled out her miniature iron. "Tilt back your head." She splayed out his hair and began to pull it through the iron. Then she ruffled up his hair and stood back to observe it. _Hmm…it works. _"Okay, now stay still." She did a quick sketch of the style. _Shaking his hair with some heat makes his annoying style look cute. I've got to try this out on someone else sometime._ He shook his head. "Not even a thank you? This could be the next new thing, Mi-chan."

"Whatever," Sammie muttered. "It's better to put that annoying blond hair of yours to good use instead of having you sit there doing nothing all the time." _I'm still not letting you near my stuff._

"Aww, Mi-chan!" He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "I like your hair too. Will you let me cut it?" Pulling away Sammie gave him a shove towards the door.

"Just leave, would you? I'm done for today."

"So I can only hang here while you're working? Ah, Mi-chan, I don't even know what you do when you're not working on those sketches." Before Sammie could reply, there was a knock on the door.

"Sa-chan?" she heard a voice say. "Are you here?" The door opened slowly and Kiri walked in. "Uh…"

"Ki-chan!" he cried. He ran up and threw his arms around her. "I missed you so much!" Kiri stared at him for a moment and then looked past him and Sammie.

"Who's he?" she asked. His face drooped, and Sammie smiled in amusement.

"Ki-chan, don't you remember me? It's Billy!" Kiri tapped her chin.

"Oh yeah…the one with the annoying bangs…"

"Yup!" Billy grinned. Kiri glanced at Sammie.

"What's he doing here?" Sammie blinked, and then tilted her head towards the ceiling.

"Well," she began. "Yesterday he said that he wanted to help Nee-chan with the shop, and the day before he said that he was delivering some expensive shampoo from LA, but today he didn't say anything, he just barged in and started messing around."

"Is that so?" Kiri laughed as Billy turned bright red.

"That's not true! I do have a reason for coming here today. It's, uh, because…"

"Just get out!" Sammie snapped, pushing him out the door. She slammed it in her face and let out a sigh. "He's so annoying." Kiri tilted her head.

"How do you know him anyway?" Sammie shrugged.

"I don't even know. He just came into the shop one day out of the blue. He seemed innocent enough, giving tips to the girls and stuff, but now…" Sammie's thoughts flew away as she reminisced.

_The door opened and Sammie turned around, startled. There was a boy standing there, looking confused. "I'm sorry," he said, bowing. "I was looking for the washroom."_

"_It's just over there," Sammie directed with a smile. Then she recognized him "Hey! Aren't you Billy Iketani, the famous teen hairstylist from LA?" He ran his hands through his hair._

"_I guess you could say that…" he laughed. "And you are…?"_

"_I'm Sammie," she replied. "My sister is the owner of this shop." _

"_I see." He looked around her room. "So Sammie-san, are you part of the Style Shoppe too?" Sammie shook her head._

"_I don't like cutting hair," she explained. "It's more Nee-chan's thing." _

"_Ahh…" He reached up and touched her hair. "You have such nice hair. Can I cut it?" Sammie backed away._

"_Um…no thanks. I don't really like people cutting my hair." _

"Then he just started coming again and again, asking to cut my hair. It got really annoying." Kiri noticed her rosy cheeks were white with fear. _She's hiding something...but what's there to hide?_ Kiri sighed and sat down on a chair. _I'll figure that out later…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! Commentary! (this is going to be a short chapter though)**

**This is my first BP fic (and hopefully my only BP fic) and I'm a little stumped as to what it'll actually be about. The actual Manga jumps all over with a new topic in every volume, except near the end when it actually was a real, official conflict needing to be solved. I do have a main-ish topic in mind, but it doesn't really go anywhere. **

**Anyway, the actual "intro" part is finished, and from here the story just progresses. I thought I'd clarify some things, because it's all a little confusing. **

**So the Style Shoppe originates in New York City. A bunch of students in beauty college got together for a _big _project: to open a hair salon. They style hair, mostly for special occasions like Iori-san mentioned. One day, an older member of the Style Shoppe crew, Karen Yagami, had an idea to take the Style Shoppe international. She hopped over to Japan along with Sarah-san, Mitchie-san, Janie-san, and Erie-san, along with her little sister and they rented a lovely place to open a new salon. The Yagami sisters live upstairs, where Sammie-chan has made her little haven of her room/workshop. **

**Erie-chan is a first year beauty college student, two years younger than the other stylists, and Karen-san is one year older. Sammie-chan is the same age as Kiri, so she's a few years younger than the rest of the stylists. Just thought I'd let you know.**

**Anyway, on to important things. Because I loved the Manga so much, I decided to focus a lot on style to match the Manga. The problem is the style in a Manga is really different because it's so enhanced by pictures, and it's mostly dialogue. Kiyoko Arai often splits dialogue into two different speech bubbles separated by ellipses, and if you read closely she uses ellipses a lot, especially for Kiri. In my opinion, the use of separating speech bubbles and ellipses gives a different feel. For example if you said "I'll help you add a little magic", it doesn't give the mystical, peaceful tone as if you said "I'll help you…add a little magic..." And the use of separating dialogue enhances that even more, and when reading most people will use pauses at the ellipses. This can't always be portrayed with prose since there's no picture accompaniment so readers have to use their imagination. Also using ellipses all the time would be weird. When I was imagining the story in my head, it was in Manga form, and I pictures Kiri and Sammie and all the others as if it was the sequel to the Manga itself. Transforming that into prose is challenging, which is why writers who write fanfiction for Manga's have a more difficult time than those who write from books or even animations, since there isn't actually narration in animations, so you can use whatever voice you choose. I prefer to match voice to the original authors; it makes it seem more authentic that way. Matching the voice of a Manga is a lot harder though, especially for Beauty Pop because of the mystical mood of it, which is also enhanced with those weird light rays and facial expressions that can't be used when writing. Stories are really different from Manga because of the extra need for imagination; you don't just have to imagine their voice, but the pictures too. And that is why you can really match the voice of a Manga exactly, but I'll try my best. :) **

**That's it for now, and I hope you're enjoying Comeback.**

This is how the days progressed:

Billy continued to visit and pester Sammie about cutting her hair. She always refused, and remained completely wary of him.

"I just don't like people cutting my hair, that's all," she said quickly when Sarah asked.

Narumi followed Kiri's advice and stayed the way he was. The two got closer.

"It's strange because Puffy Head knows I like her, but she doesn't show it to the others. I guess it should stay that way."

Ochiai noticed this, of course, and was deeply disturbed. He began to silently plot how to destroy Narumi.

"Nothing against Narumi though, we're such good friends and I'm with him at every step. But Koshiba-san is mine and _I_ will have her, not Narumi."

Kiri continued to visit Sammie too, and she often noticed that Sammie was hiding something, mostly her hair iron, but Kiri knew she had other secrets too. She refused to show her (or Billy) anything except her rapid sketching, although Kiri (and the rest of the SP) already knew that she was good with an iron from when she did Kanako's hair.

Ochiai became worried that the Style Shoppe would steal customers from the SP and Koshiba Beauty Salon, but Karen ensured him that they weren't quite as skillful and they weren't planning to go anywhere with the business.

Sammie continued to hang out with the SP. She was always good natured and cheerful around everyone, and even Narumi acted nicer towards her. Ochiai noticed this, and he began to think.

As for Billy, he felt something strange. He couldn't comprehend it, so he chose to ignore it. He only wanted one thing right now.

But what?


End file.
